W&m Crew Faces Test In Crawford Bay Classic

5 Other Schools Set To Compete

Tom Martell, the third-year rowing coach at William and Mary, plans to make a few waves today in the Crawford Bay Crew Classic at Portsmouth's Portside on the Elizabeth River.

Martell and his W&M men's team will be competing in both the 4-man and 8-man crews along with five other colleges - Old Dominion, Virginia, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and George Washington.

``This is going to be a tuneup for us,'' said Martell. ``Navy will probably be the dominant team in the 8-man crew race, but we should do very well in the 4-man crew race.''

The W&M 4-man crew will be competing against George Washington. Heading the 4-man crew are Doug Fletcher, Jeff Baines, Tom Martineau and Chesapeake native Denton Woodward, along with coxswain Rick Reidinger.

``We're looking forward to a pretty competitive season,'' Martell said. ``We'll find out a little more about ourselves in this race.''

``The city of Portsmouth contacted us back in the fall about competing in this race,'' said Glenn Grossman, the novice men's rowing coach at W&M. ``I believe we'll make some waves in both the men's and women's competition.

``I really believe that we'll more than hold our own against GW. Hopefully we can win the 4-man men's crew race.''

The heats for all the races will begin at 8 a.m., with the women's novice race followed by the men's novice race at 8:20 a.m.

The finals in all the races will run from 2 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.

``Most of the spectators attending the race will be able to see the competition and finish line from the sea wall at Portside in downtown Portsmouth,'' said Marsha Hardee, the project coordinator for the Crawford Bay Crew Classic.

The race committee hopes to make this event annual.

``I believe it's a good time to get us going into the rowing season,'' said Martell. ``We'll get to see just how much water time teams like Navy, Coast Guard, ODU and U. Va. have had up to now.''

Navy won the team title last year at Syracuse in the International Rowing Association competition, and Virginia also won a gold medal.

The teams will be competing on a 2,000-meter course on the Elizabeth River, starting south of the Old Coast Guard base, running along the downtown Portsmouth waterfront and ending at Portside.

According to Hardee, the last competitive crew racing in the Hampton Roads area was last century.

In ``Historic Southern Port'' by Thomas J. Wertenbaker, the author writes about a group of athletes competing in rowing. The Undine and the Chesapeake Boat clubs were organized in Norfolk, and the Seaboard Club in Portsmouth, so that ``long ship's boats, pulled by six lusty youngsters, became a familiar sight on the Elizabeth.''

In August, 1871, the Undines met the Potomac Club of Georgetown, but were defeated.

The author also wrote an account on races in 1873 between the Chesapeakes (Norfolk) and Seaboards (Portsmouth), with the Portsmouth boat defeating the Chesapeakes in 18 minutes and 45 seconds.